Operation Winter Strain: Chapter Nine
Making plans in the Delta Green RPG using Mythic 2e
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CIA Safehouse - 9PM
We met as a group around 9 pm when Landry and Nate started grumbling about taking a smoke break with such synchronicity, I felt a little taken aback. Nancy only trusted one of them, which was good, because it was the one I had chosen to trust, but despite their rocky first meeting, they seemed to have fallen into an old, symbiotic rhythm. They even whispered jokes to each other. It was disturbing, but I seemed to be the only one bothered by it. Jasper found a blackboard from somewhere, likely a staple of all federally funded buildings, and I filled them in on the leads we had, writing a few bullet points on the black board.
James Scott - Councilor and Cultist
Walter Sims - Local Pastor and Cultist
Church of the 5 Days Dead - Cult hideout
“K” - Possible Cult leader, ties to New York Cult.
I skipped over a lot of what I had discovered. I didn’t mention the location of Councilman Scott’s trip, or the caverns beneath the church. That was Nancy’s op.1
“I’ve got 2 cases of booze and a looted removal van. I say we load it up, burn the place down, and shoot everyone inside.” I summarized.
“Jesus Christ Jones.” Landry said, with a long sigh.
‘What?” I asked, nonplused. “We know where they are, we know they aren’t up to anything good, and they congregate in an isolated location. Seems like a no-brainer to me.”
“What if there are more bodies in there?” Joe said seriously. “The CDC agents are going to pull through, and we never would have rescued them if we had torched the place without going inside the warehouse. We can’t go in blind if there is a chance there are more innocents there.” I felt strongly that he was wrong, but I couldn’t find a fault in what he was saying, so I just shrugged, and tried to remain professional.
“What do you suggest?” I said tightly.
‘Surveillance.” He said automatically. “We have a van that can blend in, and I’m sure you two have run a sting before.” He looked at me expectantly and I shrugged. I hadn’t, but I had performed the training and listened to my coworkers complain, at length, about the whole process. “It will give me time to run more tests. The agents are stable, but they are both young and healthy. It would be good to know what this pathogen is doing, and if it comes back, if there is a more expedient way to treat it than just letting the body fight it off.” Landry and Nate shared a look, brief and gone quickly, but I still caught it. I would have missed it, but the moment Joe had started talking about trying to learn more, I had been reminded of something Nancy had said. She said she didn’t trust the Program because it wanted to learn things best left forgotten, or better yet, destroyed. I wondered how Landry and Nate felt about it. Did they agree with Nancy, or the Program?
Now that I knew I wasn’t going to drive out and burn down a church, the adrenaline that had been surging around my body was starting to fade, leaving me bone tired as we entered into the planning stage. We didn’t have many resources for a full sting operation, but the van would be a big help. It would be useful to get the lay of the land before we headed out.
“A directional microphone, a camcorder and preferably something with night vision.” Jasper listed off.2
“Most Camcorders have a night vision mode, if you get a more expensive model.” Landry said. ‘And we can get one easily enough from one of the tech stores in town. The microphone is going to be a problem.” He said. “Most of the time, the ones used by law enforcement are obtained for a purpose, from an approved supplier. They aren’t expensive, but they aren’t cheap either, not are they readily available to civilians. I’ll see what I can do.”
“It would be nice if we could bug the place.” Jasper said
“If we were going that far in, we might as well just see if there’s anyone to rescue, and if not, burn the place down.” I grumbled.
“Your girl is surprisingly blood thirsty Nolan” Nate said, with unwelcome approval. He patted me on the shoulder. “I agree with you, for what it's worth. This op has been a shit show start to finish, I’m all for smashing this to ruins and picking up the pieces afterwards.” He scowled out nobody in particular before continuing. “But a day or two more wont hurt.
The team went to bed around midnight with a tentative plan. Jasper and I would scour the maps first thing, and then drive out to find a good place to watch over the church. Phoenix removals were affiliated with the cult, and a staple of the town, so hopefully we wouldn’t attract too much attention. This wouldn’t work long term, however, as people were going to ask questions sooner or later, especially when the two thugs don’t answer to calls or show up where they are expected. I almost hoped it happened sooner, so we could get on with it. In the meantime, Joe would use the book I found, the analyzer and the samples to try to run some tests. He tried to reassure me that it might give us an edge. Something had left a large furrow and slime trail. It might be good to know what it was made out of. I didn’t take much of a part in the planning, letting my mind slip to that new, numb place a foot or so outside of my body, watching the ongoing events as a spectator, rather than a participant. The distance from myself allowed me to ask a few questions that had been nagging at me, the main one being What the fuck was wrong with me? Nate was right, I was downright bloodthirsty. I hate these unnatural things, and I have since I first found out about them, but most of the people in that church were, ostensibly, still human. When did I get so comfortable with killing them for expediency? Even in the cloudy numbness of my brain fog though, I didn’t allow myself to dwell on the real concern I was having. My sense of smell was sharper, and not just when it came to these fucking unnatural mushroom people. I could smell the disinfectant from the back room, slightly stronger whenever the Russian mobster sprayed something down. I could pick out each individual aftershave the agents around me were using. They were oddly fitting for the persons wearing them, Landry with a subtle, negligible pine. Nate with an overcompensating cologne that even my dad would have thought was too much. A functional and slightly bitter antiperspirant for Joe, and Jasper, sitting next to me, had something sweet. Cinnamon maybe. It was impossible for me to know, and yet, I was certain. The smells were all distinct from each other, like separate strands that I could zero in on as I dozed in and out of conversation. My eyes were slightly sharper too, which was useful as Joe had filled the blackboard with a tight, cramped hand that was largely illegible unless you squinted and tilted your head, but it was still unnerving. My optometrist had said I was months away from needing reading glasses from all the time I spent squinting at a screen for my day job, and yet I could pick out each letter and word from across the room. What was happening to me?3
On the Road - December 3, 2005 - 9 AM
The muscles in my back were feeling mostly healed the next day, and the bruising was already starting to yellow into an ugly, but painless, stain on my back. Joe and Landry had finally allowed themselves to sleep, leaving the CDC agents in the dubious care of our unwanted Russian colleague. Jasper and I headed out to the small commercial district in the center of Sagebrush to get the last of our supplies for the surveillance op. Having time to sleep, and cool down, I had gradually acclimated to the idea, although a deeper part of me still wanted to go loud and burn the place to the ground. All in good time, I supposed.
We picked up an expensive digital camera with all the bells and whistles from an overly enthusiastic young man at the tech shop, who held us up an extra 20 minutes showing us all the extra features and add ons.4 As Landry had suspected, there was little we could use in the form of a microphone, directional or otherwise, so we would have to do without. I picked up a notepad and new pen at the convenience store, and we grabbed a map of the local roads before parking just outside of town to plan.5 There were several roads that led to the final stretch of dirt road leading up to the church, so we would need to park somewhere that had a decent view of all of the main roads.6 Even on the map, it was clear that there was nowhere we could park the car and watch the last track of road without being highly visible in our mildly conspicuous white van.7 However, there was a road that led a few miles west and then curved around to an elevation, which would give a good view of the main paths into the church while still being mostly out of sight. It was impossible to tell from the map how close a look we would be able to get, however. Still, it was our best bet.
It took us two hours to get to where we needed to go.8 As the map had indicated, it had a good view of the three roads leading up to the church, but there was little in the way of cover. All anyone would have to do is look up, and they would see a big white van parked on the overlook. I wondered if we should have brought the SUV instead, but it probably would have been even more conspicuous.
“Is there anything we can do to make this less visible?” I asked, looking around at the icy, desolate ground.
“I could go and cut some of the brush and try to make it look like a large bush if you want?” Jasper replied sarcastically, fiddling around with the camera. We had bought 2 with our dwindling funds, an expensive video camera with spare rechargeable batteries and a night vision mode for when it inevitably got dark at 4 PM, as well as a cheaper digital camera for taking single shots of cars as the approached the road or left. We had a good view, so we should have plenty of time to catch any number plates as they arrived.
“We would probably be less conspicuous if we parked further back from the ridge.” I said
“Do you want to stand outside in the cold for hours?” He shot back. “That’s what I thought.” He added smugly after I scowled at him.
“Have you ever run surveillance?” I asked.9 He nodded.
“A few times.” He said, setting the camera up on the dashboard and peering at the small screen to ensure the best angle. “With better equipment, mind you. We’ll be lucky to get more than a few plates and basic descriptions with this gear.” I pulled out my notebook and flipped it over to a blank page, scrawling a few basic notes. If nothing else, this would be a good learning opportunity for my day job. We sat in silence for a while before Jasper spoke again. “How about you?” He asked. “I would have thought this was your bread and butter.” I shrugged.
“I know the basics, but most cases I’ve been assigned to have been more about managing paperwork than fieldwork.” I tried not to scowl at the last part. With the exception of the Lester Roth case, which had been as much cover up as investigative work, most of my job had been assigned at the tail end of an investigation, helping to wrap up another fraud case or another liaison work, managing people and trying to keep multiple parties happy. Baker and Barnes had told me it was standard procedure, and once I got a few more months of grunt work under my belt I would get assigned something more interesting, but still, it grated.10
Several hours went by with little to show for it. A few cars passed along the Maricopa Road to the south, but none of them turned onto any of the paths leading to the church, and never passed close enough to register on the camcorder. Jasper checked in with Joe and Landry for an update on the research aspect11, but there had been little progress. And so we waited.12 No cars arrived come sundown, and no news from Joe either. I was starting to get edgy.
“Do you think we could see the church from here?” I said, pointing to position on the map, about a half hour hike away.
“Pay attention to the road, Kat.” Jasper said, flicking the night vision on the camera and swapping the battery out.
“We don’t know how large this group is.” I said. “They could all be at the church already, doing whatever it is they need to do.”
“Going there and having a nose around wouldn’t confirm that.” Jasper said blandly. “It’s only 4:30, let’s give it some more time.”13
Something finally happened around 8 PM, a few hours after my ass went numb from sitting in the car for so long. A single car peeled off the main road at a quick pace, heading straight towards us.14 When it got close I took a shot of the license plate, but I felt Jasper freeze next to me.
“Who is that?” He whispered, his sharp eyes narrowed. The car passed along and turned to go up towards the church. I brought up the picture to take a closer look. A young man was alone in the car, but something was off. Unlike the previous people we had seen related to the cult, this man was clean and well groomed. He clutched the steering wheel with a white knuckled grip, visible even in the blur of the photo. “I don’t think he’s a member of the cult.” Jasper said cautiously.
“Why not? Because he’s clean?” I asked, looking at the photo again.
“Because he’s the photographer for the local newspaper. He gave us the intel on Debbie Graves.” Jasper let out a barely audible groan.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
“I knew the kid was hiding something when we interviewed him. He was trying to play down his relationship with Graves. Snaez suspected they were sleeping together, the veteran investigative journalist and the young photographer.” He snorted. “Obviously he knew about this place, but he didn’t tell us.”
“He’s probably going to get himself killed.” I observed, watching the car disappear around the bend. Jasper’s fingers tapped on the steering wheel nervously. I glanced at the map.15 We would have to circle back, and drive full throttle up the road to even have a chance of catching up to him.
“If he’s smart, he’ll park up around here.” I said pointing at the location Debbie had indicated she had taken her initial photos from. “If we drive parallel here, we might be able to go on foot to reach him here.” I pointed at the hiking trail adjacent to the road near the church.
“Without gear, and in the dark?” Jasper said dryly, turning the key and checking the rear view mirror.
“Or we could just drive up. I’ve got the MP5 in the back.” I said with a grin.16
“Fucks sake.” He swore. “Stupid fucking kid.” He said, as he revved the engine.17
The Church awaits. Having played more Delta Green in person than when I started, this is the chapter that feels the most like group play - as in, a lot of planning, and not a lot happening haha. Thanks for reading!
Oracle: Did the N Cell crew recognize the name Walter Sims? 50/50 75 - No.
Requisition: Bureaucracy - 42/68 (I really like the Requisition mechanics, but I still need to work on how to marry them more into the fiction.)
End scene. Chaos Factor 4. Test Scene - 9 - Scene as Expected
Oracle: Any form of directional microphone? Unlikely - 54 -No
Skill: Criminology - 73/66 - Fail
Oracle: Somewhere hidden near the road to the church? Unlikely - 91 Extreme no
Oracle: Somewhere high up with a view of all of the roads? 50/50 - 17 Yes.
Oracle: Good view of all roads? Likely - 20 Yes. Out of sight? 50/50 83 - No.
Oracle: Has Jasper done surveillance before? Likely - 50 Yes
Oracle: Any cars come in the first few hours? 50/50 45 - No.
Oracle: Any news on the mushroom or blood? 50/50 93 - Extreme no
Oracle: Any thing happen at all before sundown? 50/50 68 - No.
Oracle: Any cars between now and midnight. Likely - 21 More than 1? 50/50 88 No.
Oracle: Do I recognize it? 50/50 44 - Random event - No. Does Jasper knows him? Very Likely - 09 Extreme yes. Journalist? 50/50 27 Yes.
Oracle: Anywhere to head him off? Unlikely - 48 No. What about driving and hiking the way earlier? Likely - 12
Oracle: Does Jasper follow the guy? Almost Certain - 59 Yes
Jasper Skill: Drive 81/30 (We wont be able to head him off)
Excellent read! I liked Kat’s inner dialogue about changes in herself.
Reads like a novel! I like the rolls as foot notes, makes for a pleasant read. Probably took a chunk of work to do